David Beckham on hand to sprinkle stardust on England's 2018 bid

• Beckham can put 2018 bid back on track for second time
• He and Radebe to make case to national Fifa associations

David Beckham will be joined by Lucas Radebe in making England’s case for 2018 to members of the 208 national Fifa associations. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA
Dave Thompson/PA Wire/Press Association Images

The team bidding to bring the 2018 World Cup to England will today employ their not-so-secret weapon, David Beckham, to make their case at Fifa's pre-tournament congress.

One of the reasons that the FA was keen for Beckham to join up with Fabio Capello's England camp despite the achilles injury that has kept him out of the tournament was to deploy him strategically to the benefit of their World Cup bid.

He and Lucas Radebe, the former South Africa and Leeds United captain who is also an ambassador for the 2018 bid, will join the chief executive, Andy Anson, the chairman, Geoff Thompson, and the head of international relations, David Dein, to make the case to members of the 208 national associations that will attend Fifa's congress.

Beckham's appearance at the World Cup draw in December helped put the bid back on track following a damaging period of internal strife and it is hoped that their trip to South Africa will have a similar effect following the controversial departure of Lord Triesman, the former chairman of the Football Association and the bid. Beckham will travel from Capello's base in Rustenburg to appear at an Expo where all nine bidding countries will answer questions from congress delegates.

The Fifa congress on the eve of the World Cup is seen as an important opportunity to network but is not likely to make a material difference to the deliberations of the 24 executive committee members, all of whom have already had extensive contact with the bidding nations. The England team have spent much of the period following the damaging departure of Triesman in the wake of a newspaper sting neutralising its impact. While their lobbying work continues, the most crucial period for the bid will begin in August when Fifa inspectors arrive to examine their vision in detail.

A presentation on Tuesday to the Concacaf delegates, the North and Central American region controlled by the controversial and unpredictable Jack Warner that has three of the 24 votes on offer, is understood to have gone well. The 12-minute presentation featured a personal message from Beckham. Members of the England 2018 delegation will tour South Africa to observe the logistical challenges involved in staging the tournament.

It appears more likely than ever that the 2018 tournament will be staged in Europe, with the 2022 World Cup in either Australia, the United States or Qatar after the influential president of the Asian Confederation, Mohammed bin Hammam, said he believed that would be the case. Australia and the US are still officially bidding for 2018 as well as 2022, though.

Fifa confirmed this week that joint bids from Spain and Portugal, and Holland and Belgium, would be allowed to stand. Spain and Portugal, along with Russia, are seen as England's biggest rivals.